The Defense Department budget efficiencies announced on January 6 by Secretary Robert Gates will generate program activity in electronic warfare (EW), intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), tactical communications and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), according to a department statement. These efficiencies, which would total more than $150 billion over the next five years, would be accomplished through personnel reductions, program extensions, consolidations and improved business practices.

As readers have noticed, change can mean opportunity, when selling to the IC. But, if you and I don't take a few moments, every quarter, we'll miss the significance of the changes and the chance to leverage them into our own benefit. Here are some examples that strike me as possibly useful.

Ladies and Gentlemen, put down the keyboards, stop reading the screen for a moment, and take a deep breath. I'll wait. Ok. Now that you've done that, you can relax with the knowledge that we are not currently — nor have we ever been in — a "cyberwar" with any foreign power or group. Yes, including China. So far there have not been any verified examples of cyberwar of any kind. At this point, you probably either think me crazy or correct, but really when we get down to it, this is because our views differ on what the exact meaning of the word "war" is. Now we're done with the Op-Ed for the moment.

New Years is always a good time for top ten stories so I thought I would go this way for the January edition of Mazz-INT. I quickly realized, however, there is little new I that could add to stories such as Wikileaks, the failed jihadist bomb attacks, intelligence issues in Afghanistan, budgetary pressures on the IC, or the swap out of Clapper for Blair as DNI that would pique this readership's interest.

Even if people try to practice sound information assurance, it is often difficult to keep up with some of the policies and procedures because technology moves at such a fast pace. This is true not only in military, government and private sector settings, but also in our own homes. Often network intrusions are not due to malicious or negligent actions, but to lack of understanding of what needs to be done. That’s where Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIGs) come in.

Cyberspace concerns extend throughout the Asia-Pacific region, and they increasingly are playing key roles in how nations define security—and threats. Traditional area geopolitical rivalries are enhanced by the potential for cyberoperations, and nations once secure behind rugged borders or vast bodies of water now face potential threats to their national infrastructure through a realm that knows no borders.

Desktop virtualization offers extraordinary payoffs that could cut total U.S. Defense Department information technology spending by up to 12 percent. Depending on legacy configurations, numerous approaches are available to achieve that rapidly—it is not a “bridge too far.” The technology is mature; it is a path that already has been paved by thousands of commercial firms.

The General Services Administration and the Defense Information Systems Agency have made the first contract awards under their combined commercial satellite communications program, and more are expected soon. Part of an effort that began approximately two years ago, the deals mark a major shift in the way federal government organizations procure these space-based services. And though industry has its doubts about this new arrangement, the agencies in charge of the program believe the plan will benefit users and providers alike.

The conventional wisdom—and common joke—is that the U.S. Marine Corps receives used-up, hand-me-down equipment passed along from the Navy and Army. But that proved not to be the case during the recently completed Navy-Marine Corps exercise Bold Alligator 2011. In fact, the Marine Corps brought to the exercise more modern information technology systems than the Navy, which created interoperability problems and delays in providing critical information to commanders.